Ice auger

ABSTRACT

The present invention concerns an ice auger to the shank of which an ice lifting and auger guiding helix has been attached and the cutting blade of which consists of two equal blade pieces provided with an ice-cutting edge. The auger according to the invention is primarily intended for fishing uses.

O United States Patent 1191 1111 3,786,876

Aaltonen Jan. 22, 1974 ICE AUGER 1,064,825 6/1913 Gibson 175/385 1,176,992 3 1916 Sh 11... 175 386 X [76] Inventor Asse" Akse" Aalmnen, 2,320,610 6/1943 Kaine... 1 75/388 Makelankam, Hameenlmna, 2,504,978 4 1950 Henning 175/388 x Fmland 2,733,047 1/1956 Morgan 175/385 x Filed: June 1972 3,175,630 3/1965 Hem et a1. 175/18 X [21] Appl. No.: 263,823

Primary ExammerDav1d H. Brown Attorney, Agent, 0r.Firm-Richards & Geier [30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 24, 1971 Finland 1805/71 May 26, 1972 Finland 1494/71 [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. 175/18, 175/388 The present invention concerns an ice auger to the [51] B11. Cl. F256 5/04, E02d 17/14 shank of which an i lifting and auger guiding helix [58] Fleld of Search 175/18, 382, 385-388, has been attached and the i g blade of which 175/392, 394 sists of two equal blade pieces provided with an icecutting edge. The auger according to the invention is [56] References cued primarily intendedfor fishing uses.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 945,016 l/l9l0 Caldwell 175/388 X 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ICE AUGER Several ice augers substantially of the kind described are known in prior art. Examples hereof are the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,476,047, 2,733,047 and 3,051,253. The ice auger blades may be made of a sheet-like blank in one piece, which procedure involves abrupt bends and small bending radii. The variations in shape of individual blades manufactured in this manner are rather wide, and since in blades of this kind the magnitudes of the blade angles are highly critical, the augering properties of individual blades have been quite variable. Furthermore these blades have had the drawback of difficulties in manufacturing by machine means, owing to the complex shape of the blade pieces. Since in most of the ice auger bits of prior art the sharpening of the blades is highly critical, thissharpening cannot be made by the user himself, instead of which the auger bits have most usually been sent to the manufacturer for resharpening.

In the aforementioned U.S. Patents various ice augers closely associated with the present invention are disclosed, although in the ice auger thus disclosed no helix lifting the sundered ice and guiding the auger is employed. The U.S. Pat. No. 2,476,047 discloses an ice auger having two identical, half-cone shaped blade pieces. This auger has the drawback of complex shape of the blade with resultant difficulties of manufacturing technique, lacking adjustability of the blades, and inconvenient sharpening of the blades.

The ice augers disclosed by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,733,047 and 3,051,253 and that according to the present invention have the favourable feature in common that all these ice augers have a fairly extensive blade surface abutting on the ice to be broken, whereby too rapid penetration of the auger especially into soft sludge ice, and thus also clogging of the auger, is prevented. An advantage of the ice auger constituting the subject of the invention over the augers according to said U.S. Patents is more efficient removal of the broken ice than before and a resultant lower resistance against turning, and simpler adjustability of the blades.

In addition, the easily blunting centre spike is not needed at all in the auger according to the invention.

The aim of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned in the foregoing and to provide a simple, yet efficient ice auger which is adjustable for various types of ice. A particular aim has been to develop an ice auger which is well appropriate for manufacturing by machine means in simple steps. It has been a further object to provide an ice auger the blades of which are easily detachable, exchangeable and sharpenable. It is also an object of the invention to provide an ice auger having blade bits which are simple in design, inexpensive and light, so that the blade pieces require little space and can be easily carried along for replacement at the augering site.

The aims set forth in the foregoing are achieved, according to the invention, by the aid of an ice auger which is mainly characterized in that to the end of the shank an attachment piece has been affixed to which the blade pieces have been detachably and exchangeably attached, and that the cutting surface of the blade pieces is an oblique (angle of inclination a) helical surface and the projection of the blade pieces on a plane perpendicular to the shank is substantially a semicircle, the cutting edge of the blade pieces coinciding with one half of the diameter confining said semicircle and the blade pieces having a concave cut-out at the other half of said diameter. A

The invention is described in detail with reference to one embodiment presented in the figures of the attached drawing.

FIG. 1 shows the ice auger with its blades in elevational view so that only part of the shank and helix can be seen.

FIG. 2 shows the same as FIG. 1, but as seen in the direction of the shank and from the cutting side of the blade.

In FIG. 3 a detail, associated with the positional adjustment of the blades, of the attachment piece according to FIGS. 1 and 2 is seen.

FIG. 4 shows in elevational view another ice auger according to the invention, so that only part of the shank and helix are seen.

FIG. 5 shows the same as FIG. 4, as seen from the direction of the shank and from the side of the blade surface facing the ice.

FIG. 6 shows one blade piece according to FIGS. 4 and 5 and part of the mating piece of the attachment piece, seen from the side opposite to that in FIG. 5.

The ice auger according to the invention consists of a shank 1, which carries on its end not shown in the figures, turning means of a kind previously known in itself. Attached to the shank l, e.g., by welding, there is a helical member 2, which operates both as a means for lifting the sundered ice out of the hole that has been drilled and as a guide for the auger. According to FIGS. 1 and 2 there has been attached to the end of the shank I, e.g., by welding, an attachment piece 3 transversal to the shank l, and which has a length most appropriately substantially equal to the diameter of the helix 2. The attachment piece 3'has been bent into such shape that on both ends planar attachment surfaces are formed for the blade pieces. These attachment surfaces will be obliquely positioned with reference to the shank The blade proper of the auger, 4, has two identical blade pieces 4a and 4b, the cutting surface of which is substantially an oblique helical surface, the angle of inclination of the generatrix of this surface having been denoted with a. In the projections of FIGS. 2 and 5 the shape of the blade pieces 4a and 4b is substantially that of a semicircle, the cutting blade edge having been formed to coincide with one half of the diameter confining said semicircle. At the other half of the diameter of this semicircle a cut-out has been made, the contour of which has substantially the shape of a circular are, so that the surface of the blade piece against the ice narrows down, starting at the cutting edge. The blade 4 which is hereby formed has a rather extensive supporting surface against the ice that is being augered, which is advantageous especially when working on sludge ice, because in this instance, too, the blade 4 will penetrate into the ice at a constant rate so that the auger will not become clogged nor heavier to turn around, as is the case with most of the auger types of prior art.

The blade pieces 4a and 4b are attached to the attachment piece 3 (FIGS. 1 and 2) by means of connecting pieces 50 and 5b respectively. The connecting pieces 5a and 5b are identical and they narrow down to a planar attachment surface, which mates with the attachment piece 3. The connecting pieces 5a and 5b have been attached to the blade pieces 4a and 4b,

respectively, e.g., by welding so that the attachment is along the above-considered edge of the cutout deviating from semicircular shape. The connecting pieces a and 5b will then assume such an oblique position that they promote the removal of the broken ice from the blade 4. The connecting pieces 5a and 5b are most appropriately in an inclined position such that their pitch is identical in direction and substantially equal to that of the helix 2; in that case one of the two attachment pieces 5b constitutea a helical continuation immediatelyadjoining to the helix 2, which efficiently acts toward removal of the ice that has been broken and reduces the resistance of the auger against turning. The other connecting piece 50 also has a similar effect.

The connecting pieces 5a and 5b are attached to the attachment piece 3 detachably, e.g., by means of screws 6 (FIG. 1). Owing to the detachable feature, replacement and sharpening of the blades is rendered easy, and since the blade pieces 4a and 4b are identical,

only one type of blade pieces is needed, e.g., for spares. It is advantageously possible to combine with the detachable feature of the blade pieces also the adjustment of the cutting angles of the blade 4 for different types of ice. This adjustment feature is most easily accomplished in that stop means are provided, which determine the position of the connecting pieces 5a and 5b and the attachment piece 3 with reference to each other. In order to achieve this, it has been shown in FIG. 3 that on the attachment piece 3 an integrally fixed pin 7a has been provided beside the fixing hole 6a. The connecting pieces 5a and 5b, again, have beside the corresponding hole 6a, e.g., three holes 7, into which the pin 7a fits. it is thus possible to mount the blade 4 to provide three different cutting angles for different types of ice. It is believed that in most instances mere two-position adjustment of the cutting angle of the blade will suffice, in which instance-there are only two holes 7.

According to FIGS., 4, 5 and 6, for attachment of the blade pieces 4a and 4b to the auger, a particular attachment piece 8 has been affixed, e.g., by welding to the lower end of its shank l and helix 2, which attachment piece in its entirety consists of one piece. In the centre of the attachment piece 8 a out has been made and the parts on both sides of this have been bent in opposite directions so that mating parts 8a and 8b are formed, which have a shape corresponding to that of the inner surface of the blade pieces 4a and 4b. On the end 12 of the mating parts 8a and 8b slots 11 have been made, which have a depth substantially larger than their width. To the blade pieces 4a and 4b, again, there has been affixed by threads a fixing screw 9 and most approriately by riveting a fixed pin 10 provided with a flange. The fixing screw 9 has been disposed in the vicinity of the outer edge of the blade, where it is easily accessible, while the pin 10 is positioned close to the inner edge of the blade. Instead of the pin 10 a screw similar to the fixing screw 9 may be used, but the turning of such a screw will be comparatively awkward owing to its location. It is also possible to provide in addition to the pin 10 another similar pin, in which case there naturally will be three slots 11 side by side. The fixing screw 9 has a bulged end so that it cannot be totally screwed out and the screw 9 cannot ever be lost.

The end 12 of the mating parts 8a and 8b has been bevelled (FIGS. 4 and 6) so that it is easy to push the blade piece 4a, 4b with its fixing means 9, 10 into its place. Between the pin 10 and its flange there remains a space consistent with the thickness of the mating part 8a, 8b so that the pin fits fairly closely into its slot I1. By tightening the screw 9, e.g., only about one half turn, the blade piece 4a, 4b is reliably, and rapidly detachably, attached.

In the mating parts small holes 13 have been drilled (FIG. 6) as widely spaced as possible. Opposite these holes 13 on the blade pieces 40, 4b pins 14 fitting into said holes have been provided, which align the blade pieces 4a, 4b correctly in association with the mating parts 8a, 8b. The pins I4 are most suitably produced by an embossing operation with a punch from the lower side of the blade piece 4a, 4b. 7

When in the embodiment example according to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 the fixing means 9, 10 and the pins 14 are differently placed in different blade pieces and the blade pieces 4a, 4b and mating pieces 8a, 8b are properly shaped, it becomes possible inconnection with replacement of the blade pieces 4a, 4b to alter the cutting angle of the blade (the slope of the helical surface) and the rate of penetration into the ice of the blade.

I claim:

1. Ice auger, to the shank (l) of which an ice lifting and auger guiding helix (2) has been affixed and the blade (4) of which consists of two mutually similar blade pieces (4a and 4b) provided with an ice-cutting edge, characterized in that to the end of the shank (I) an attachment piece (3,

respectively 8) has been attached, to which the blade pieces (4a and 4b) have been detachably attached,

the cutting surface of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) is an oblique (angle of inclination a) helicalsurface and the projection of the blade piece on a plane perpendicular to the shank (l) is substantially a semicircle, the cutting edge of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) coinciding with one half of the diameter confining said semicircle and the blade pieces (4a and 4b) having a concave cut-out coincident with its other half.

2. Ice auger according to claim. 1, characterized in that to the surface of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) opposite to their cutting surface connecting pieces (5a, respectively 5b) have been undetachably attached, by means of which the blade pieces (4a and 4b) are attached to the attachment piece (3), which is transversal to the shank (1), said connecting pieces (5a and Sb) assuming with reference to the shank an inclined position, the pitch of which has the same direction as that of the helix (2).

3. Ice auger according to claim 1 characterized in that connecting pieces (5a and 5b) have been attached to the attachment piece (3) by means of a screw (6), and that the magnitude of the cutting angle has been arranged to be stepwise adjustable by the aid of holes (7) and integrally fixed pins on the attachment piece (3) and the connecting piece (5a).

4. Ice auger according to claim 3, characterized in that on both ends of the attachment piece (3) one pin (7a) has been fixed and that the connecting pieces (5a and 5b) have at a constant distance from the fixing screw hole (6) at least two holes (7).

5. Ice auger according to claim I, characterized in that to the lower end of the shank (1) and helix (2) has been attached a fixing piece (8), from which protrude, bent in mutually opposite directions, mating parts (8a corresponding points with at least two pins (14), most appropriately by embossing from the underside of the blade piece (40, 4b), said pins 14) being such that they fit into the drilled holes (13) and thereby properly position the blade pieces (4a, 4b) prior to tightening the fixing screw (9) or screws. 

1. Ice auger, to the shank (1) of which an ice lifting and auger guiding helix (2) has been affixed and the blade (4) of which consists of two mutually similar blade pieces (4a and 4b) provided with an ice-cutting edge, characterized in that to the end of the shank (1) an attachment piece (3, respectively 8) has been attached, to which the blade pieces (4a and 4b) have been detachably attached, the cutting surface of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) is an oblique (angle of inclination Alpha ) helical surface and the projection of the blade piece on a plane perpendicular to the shank (1) is substantially a semicircle, the cutting edge of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) coinciding with one half of the diameter confining said semicircle and the blade pieces (4a and 4b) having a concave cut-out coincident with its other half.
 2. Ice auger according to claim 1, characterized in that to the surface of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) opposite to their cutting surface connecting pieces (5a, respectively 5b) have been undetachably attached, by means of which the blade pieces (4a and 4b) are attached to the attachment piece (3), which is transversal to the shank (1), said connecting pieces (5a and 5b) assuming with reference to the shank an inclined position, the pitch of which has the same direction as that of the helix (2).
 3. Ice auger according to claim 1 characterized in that connecting pieces (5a and 5b) have been attached to the attachment piece (3) by means of a screw (6), and that the magnitude of the cutting angle has been arranged to be stepwise adjustable by the aid of holes (7) and integrally fixed pins (7a) on the attachment piece (3) and the connecting piece (5a).
 4. Ice auger according to claim 3, characterized in that on both ends of the attachment piece (3) one pin (7a) has been fixed and that the connecting pieces (5a and 5b) have at a constant distance from the fixing screw hole (6) at least two holes (7).
 5. Ice auger according to claim 1, characterized in that to the lower end of the shank (1) and helix (2) has been attached a fixing piece (8), from which protrude, bent in mutually opposite directions, mating parts (8a and 8b) consistent with the shape of the inner surface of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) and which have a slot (11), into which the fixing screw (9) or screws of the blade pieces (4a and 4b) enter.
 6. Ice auger according to claim 5 characterized in that the mating parts (8a, 8b) have been provided with at least two drilled holes (13) and the blade piece at corresponding points with at least two pins (14), most appropriately by embossing from the underside of the blade piece (4a, 4b), said pins (14) being such that they fit into the drilled holes (13) and thereby properly position the blade pieces (4a, 4b) prior to tightening the fixing screw (9) or screws. 